OJC Press Release ID: 2520

Thursday, May 19, 2016

O’Connor named Head Men’s Basketball Coach for the Rattlers

Brendan O’Connor has been named the next head coach for the Otero Junior College Men’s Basketball program. O’Connor has served as assistant coach for the Rattlers under Houston Reed for the past nine years. He has been responsible for player development, strength/conditioning, monitoring student-athlete academic progress, planning travel arrangements, overseeing budget costs, recruiting, film exchange, and scouting.

In his assistant coaching role, O’Connor helped the program attain a record of 117-46 over the past five seasons. This past season the team went 27-6 and won the Region IX South Conference Championship. In 2012, the Rattlers won the Region IX Championship for the first time in school history and advanced to the NJCAA Tournament Elite 8 while finishing with a record of 30-6.

During O’Connor’s time at Otero 70 players have moved on to play at four-year institutions; 19 players were named Academic All-Region; and eleven players were named to the All-Region IX team. In the last five years, 16 players have been offered Division I Scholarships.

O’Connor expressed excitement and gratitude for being allowed to carry on the Otero tradition of strong athletic and academic performance.

“I’m incredibly excited to be named Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Otero Junior College. I’ve been very fortunate that my path to this point has involved playing for Bob Cavera at Lewis-Palmer High School and working for Coach Meyer at Northern State University. First and foremost, I want to thank Houston Reed for giving me my first job nine years ago. He has been the best mentor and friend you could ask for in our profession. There aren’t enough words to adequately describe the amount of love and respect I have for him,” said O’Connor.

“Additionally, I want to thank President Jim Rizzuto, Athletic Director Gary Addington, and our entire administration for allowing me the opportunity to build on the great academic and athletic tradition that exists at Otero. Lastly, my love and thanks goes out to my family, friends, and former players whose support has never wavered,” O’Connor added. “The mission of our program continues. We will strive every day to preserve the culture of hard work, unselfishness, and toughness that people have come to expect from Otero Men’s Basketball! Go Rattlers!”

“I know that Brendan will do a great job in his new position. Over the course of the last 9 years working with head coach Houston Reed, Brendan has been an integral part of the success of OJC basketball. Brendan is a diligent worker and very loyal to his players and the institution. He will continue to bring a wealth of information and expertise into his new position,” said OJC Athletic Director Gary Addington.

“Brendan has tremendous rapport with all of our students, not just the basketball players, and like all of our coaches on campus he is a valued asset to the institution. Brendan will continue the success of the basketball program and has the background and firsthand knowledge of what OJC Athletics is all about. He understands the philosophy that academic excellence must come first before athletic excellence in order for our kids to be successful at the next level. This will be another exciting chapter into Otero Junior College Basketball,” said Addington.